Imogen and Maurice Baldock, Mountain Mist, celebrate genetics

Mr and Ms Baldock have just returned to Nook, Tas, after taking four of their stud flock and winning their first Victorian show categories at the Elite Show & Sale, Bendigo.

They won reserve junior champion ewe, champion ram and supreme champion White Suffolk, before celebrating the overall prize, Suffolk/White Suffolk supreme champion, with their ram.

Mr Baldock said he started the stud about 35 years ago to transition from Suffolks, and believes he has reached a goal he set 10 years ago for his stud flock.

"I've always been into stud stock ever since I can remember," he said.

"I was into Suffolks to start with, I could see in the industry that people didn't want black fibre, and that made the decision to go into White Suffolks.

"I could see the amount of money and importance going into White Suffolks then and I could see that they could be a leading sires for commercial flocks in Australia."

Mr Baldock said his greatest challenge in the flock transition was removing the black fibre, which would still show 20-odd years later.

They manage 400 pure stud White Suffolks and work with 150 ewes.

"I've used some of the best genetics that I could get hold of, I was very lucky with a ram I purchased from a gentleman several years ago," he said.

"Our ewe base is based on that line effect which is a Detpa Grove ram, our ewes are based on that line and I was looking for more muscle, so I used quite a few rams over time to achieve what I was after.

"I would go backwards or things wouldn't work, then I got onto a ram that put that muscle into our sheep."

He said they hoped to continue pure lines and depth in the stud, while maintaining the length they've achieved.

"I've been gradually working towards it, there have been ups and downs, but things are just starting to come together," Mr Baldock said.

"The vision that I had 10 years ago is finally coming together like a jigsaw."

He said his wife, Christine, and Ms Baldock were integral to the farm and he looked forward to seeing Ms Baldock flourish in her agricultural career.

"It goes right back to my grandfather, Imogen on the other side goes back to her great grandfather," he said.

"Imogen is a really big part of this organisation, she does a lot of work with training the sheep and feeding."

Ms Baldock officially joined the stud and started showing three years ago, but had visited the farm since she was nine-years-old.

She said they had four shows left for the year - at Hobart, Brighton, Deloraine and Longford - and looked forward to seeing the stud compete.

Ms Baldock said joining the stud was something that "just happened".

"I came along and started to learn how to show and it's kept going since," she said.

"What I love about it is it's not really a chore or a job to me, it's just something I love to do."

She said she had no particular long-term goals but hoped to eventually develop her own stud, with an interest in Suffolks.